Friendship in the Lab
by Tony DiNozzo Freak
Summary: Missing scene for the Pilot; what Booth does between the skull assembling scene and the Angelator scene. Enjoy!


TITLE: The Friendship in the Lab

AUTHOR: Tiffany Flowers

EMAIL:

RATING: G

SUMMARY: Missing scene; episode tag.

CATEGORY: Booth/Brennan Friendship; missing scene.

DISCLAIMERS: I own nothing that is related to Bones, I own only this story and its idea.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is my second Bones fan fiction. I came up with the idea as I watched the

'Pilot' for the millionth time in one week. I always wondered what would have

happened if Booth had checked up on Brennan during the skull reconstruction

scene. Enjoy! And feedback is welcome, flames sent to the bad guys.

Copyright TIFFANY FLOWERS 2008 ©

From the darkened area near the glass doors that lead into the Medico-Legal lab, I stand there and watch her. She's leaning over the table, working on the puzzle of skull before her, her attention one hundred percent focused on that. I watch her as she moves pieces around and glues them together, leaning over the table again.

From that position I can see the smooth contours of her rear as her back slightly arches and she rests her chin in her hand as she thinks. Her hair is pulled away from her face and then she sits down, her left thumb nail in her mouth as she continues to think and reassemble the skull.

I want to go to her, to ask her if she needs help, but I already know what she'd say and then send me away, but instead I stay in the dark and watch her. I see fatigue starting to settle into her blue eyes and her head rotates as if to work kinks out of her neck, a soft sigh escapes her and I can hear the sound and I lick my lips as my feet quietly move me towards her, but then I stop, remembering that she'd say she was fine and dismiss me.

As I continue to watch her, I finally decide to go to her to offer some kind of support. I quietly swipe the card to access the exam platform and the quiet beeping doesn't even draw her attention away from the fragmented skull shards; just as quietly making my way closer to her.

I hear her sigh again and it's all I can do to not scare her and have her throw me over her shoulder in defense of herself or something. I mean, she is, after all, able to take care of herself and can kick some serious ass if she has to. I've seen it before.

"Temperance." I speak softly, the whispers echoing in the empty lab. I see her jump slightly as I keep a safe distance and she turns her blue eyes to me, surprise evident on her face.

"Booth, what are you doing here?" She asks me, glancing at her watch. "It's after midnight. I thought everyone was gone."

"Everyone but the security guards," I tell her, walking the distance to her and putting my hands on her shoulders, turning her back to her half-assembled skull. "And you."

She glances down at her work and then leans into my hands as they began to massage her tense, and possibly pained, shoulders. I can feel her back against my stomach and her head against my chest as I try to loosen her muscles.

"She died violently, Booth," Her soft voice tells me, the infliction of her tone tells me that she is sorry for how the woman died. "No one deserves to die like this. Who could be so mean and violent?"

"I don't know, Bones," I tell her, my fingers sliding to either side of her neck as my thumbs lightly caress the back of her neck. "But I know you. You'll figure this out and I'll get the bad guys. I know you'll do right by her by doing that, Bones."

"How did you get in here?" I hear her ask, changing the subject. "You need a security pass to get up those stairs, Booth."

"Angela," I grin as she looks up at me and the intensity of her blue eyes make my stomach flip as if I got punched in the gut. "She was worried about you and asked me to check on you. She came by the FBI building with her pass and told me you were still here."

"Oh," She said simply and sighed as she leaned into me even more, letting the fatigue I noticed earlier start to settle in. "I shouldn't be much longer."

"Temperance," I whisper again, one hand brushing back hair from her face as her eyes open. "Go home. Get some sleep. This will still be here in the morning."

"Booth," She softly warns me. "I need to finish this. Would you be able to sleep if something you were doing went unfinished?"

Realizing that she was right, I grin at her and shake my head. "No, I guess not." I lean down and lightly kiss her forehead, getting a confused frown for my troubles as I stand taller.

"I'll finish and go home. I promise." She says as she pulls away from me, closing off from our peaceful moment and gets back to work.

Taking that as my dismissal, I shove my hands into my pants pockets and release a soft sigh of my own. "G'night, Bones." And I start to walk away from her.

"Booth," Her voice stops me at the stairs. "Thanks."

"For what, Bones?" I ask, confusion on my own face.

"Listening," She smiles softly. "And the massage."

"Sure, Bones." I smile warmly and happily trot down the stairs.

"Oh, and Booth?" Her voice calls again and I turn around.

"Yeah?" I say, looking at her as she stands at the stairs with her hands on her hips.

"Don't call me Bones." She demands softly, but I can see an amused smile tugging at her lips.

"As you wish." I say, quoting from _The Princess Bride_.

"I'm telling you," Angela's bubbly voice tells me as I stand in her office, waiting for Bones. "Zack saw her here at 8:00 this morning with her head on her arms, skull assembled."

"She stayed here all night?" I ask, clamping my mouth shut so I won't add, 'After I asked her not to?' to the rest of the question. Angela knows I came here last night, but doesn't tell the newly arrived Zack Addy or Jack Hodgins, but her look to me tells me that she knows that I'm irked at Bones' disregard for my concern.

Looking at a painting, I can't help but comment. "This is interesting...Angela."

"Good morning," A newly arrived Bones says, sounding well rested and chipper; though her eyes tell me differently when she walks by me. "Does Booth know how this works?"

My disapproval goes unnoticed as I turn to some kind of machine in the next room and Angela starts saying something. My attention on Bones until she turns to me, swallowing nervously as her eyes lock onto mine.

"Did you get that?" She asks, her vibrant blue eyes telling me to get with the program.

"Yeah," I say, looking at Bones. "The patent pending part." And I move over to stand by Bones as she starts speaking in Squint talk, looking over her shoulder at the reassembled skull that has little eraser type markers all over the face of it. The only thing I know in this moment:

If Temperance Brennan ever needs me, I'm going to be there for her. No matter what.

**THE END**


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